The Dinner Party
by Sahara Rose 101
Summary: Kensi decides to host a dinner party to prove she can cook and ropes Deeks into helping her. The only problem is neither of them can cook.
1. Kamikaze Cooks

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter One: Kamikaze Cooks

Agent Kensi Blye groaned, pushing her completed stack of paperwork away. "This is the last time I'm leaving this till Friday night." She rested her head on the bare wood desk, leaving only a mass of dark brown waves to be seen.

Her boss rolled his ice blue eyes at her, "You said that last week Kens," G Callen smirked at her.

"And the week before that," His partner added with a teasing smile. Agent Sam Hanna glanced at her partner, "Deeks' bad habits rubbing off on you?"

"Hey," The LAPD detective sat up indignantly, abandoning his current game addiction on his I-Phone to defend his reputation. "Everything that goes wrong around here is not my fault."

"Yeah, it is," Kensi looked up at her partner.

"You know, sometimes, I think I want another partner," Marty Deeks told her with a mock hurt expression on his tanned face. He didn't mean it; it was just part of their banter.

"Good luck with that," Sam chuckled. "You'd have to find someone who'd put up with you without shooting you."

"Which rules out me and Sam," Callen said.

"Guys, I'm not that bad,"

"I heard that Eric was thinking about getting an assistant. You could ask him if he wants another partner," Sam continued, ignoring the blonde man's outburst.

"Ask me what?" Eric Beale, tech extraordinaire walked down the stairs, carrying another pile of paperwork.

"Deeks wants to be your partner," Callen explained quickly, smirking a little.

Eric frowned, "I just got used to one partner. I'm good."

"Don't you dare tell me that's more paperwork," Kensi glared at him, holding a pen menacingly.

"Not for you," The tech dumped it on Callen's already overcrowded desk. "Hetty said your team evaluations need redoing."

"Ha!" Kensi jeered gleefully, pumping her fist in the air. "For once, it's not me."

"Rub it in anymore and you'll fail your evaluation," Callen told her and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Done and Done!" Deeks slammed his pen on the desk victoriously. "Who's up for a beer?"

"Pass, I'm starving," Kensi stood up and stretched. "I'm going to cook then sleep for the weekend."

"You? Cook?" Sam laughed, shaking his head.

"Hey, I can cook," She glowered at him, folding her arms defensively.

"Yeah, which is why every time we go over to yours for a 'dinner party', we have pizza," Eric rolled his eyes.

"We do not," Kensi argued. "And I can cook. Just ask Deeks!"

"Like he'd be able to judge," Sam scoffed, leaning back in his chair.

"What's that supposed to mean?" The detective looked at the Navy SEAL.

"Nothing. It's just that your palette isn't very diverse."

"I live in Los Angeles," Deeks said, "I can eat a different nationality every night."

"Exactly- you don't cook," Sam pointed out.

"I do too cook. I did a cooking course when I first joined the LAPD."

"How hot was the instructor?" Eric asked. All of them knew the real reason he would have done a course like that.

"Pretty damn hot. And she made an awesome cheesecake. It tasted amazing with her body butter," His eyes glazed over as he reminisced. "But that's beside the point."

"Face it Kens," Callen drawled. "You can't cook and neither can Deeks."

"Can to," Deeks muttered like a child.

"We'll prove it," Kensi declared, sticking out her chin defiantly. If there was one thing never to say to Kensi Marie Blye, it was that she couldn't do something. Because she would, even if it killed her. Or blew up her kitchen.

"Yep, we'll prove it," Deeks echoed then realised what his partner had said. "We'll?"

"Yes. Deeks' we'll." Kensi glanced at him, pleading with him using her mismatched eyes.

"Yes we will. We'll show you were the best cooks in LA."

"We have a system, Kens. You can't mess up the system," Callen said as he flicked through the paperwork.

"What's the system?" Deeks asked, confused.

"When we want pizza, we go to Kensi's. When we want sushi, we go to Eric's. And when we want home cooked food, we go to Sam or Nell's," Callen explained offhandedly as though it was obvious. "You're changing the system."

"I thought you said change was good. Routine gets you killed?" Deeks complained, parroting Sam's tradecraft lectures.

"Changing a routine like this will get us killed. We'll die of food poisoning," Sam said with a little shrug. "No offense."

Kensi's face hardened into a frozen smile. "None taken. Dinner's at my house in two hours. Eric, can you please tell Nell?" Her tone was that overly polite tone that all of them had come to fear. Whenever she used it, it never led to good things for the other person.

"Sure," He agreed uncertainly. "Do you want us to bring anything?"

"Nope," She shook her head. "I'll do everything."

"You might want to alert the hospitals to expect six cases of severe food poisoning," Sam suggested sardonically.

Kensi narrowed her eyes at him, "Funny. Come on Deeks," She grabbed him by the sleave and started dragging him, "Let's unleash our Jamie Oliver."

Eric looked questioningly at Sam and Callen, "It is going to be safe to eat, isn't it?"

"Don't worry about it," Sam waved him off, "They won't be stupid enough to actually try and cook something complicated."

"I hope so," Eric said and ambled back up to Ops to tell Nell the plans.

#NCIS:LA#DENSI#NCIS:LA#

Deeks pulled his sleave out of Kensi's iron grasp, "Jeez Kens, lay off the wheeties, would you?"

"I'm sorry," She let go. "They just make me so mad sometimes. Acting all superior like that. I'm just as good as them."

"I'm pretty sure Sam's a better cook than you though," Deeks said without thinking, then waited for the retaliatory strike.

"That's why I have you," She smiled at him. "You're my secret weapon."

"What?" He didn't understand.

"Just make that weird curry thing that you made that weekend we had the movie marathon and everything will be cool," She said impatiently. As his face fell, so did her hopes of proving the rest of the team wrong. "You didn't cook that, did you?"

"Nope," He shook his head despondently, "It was take-out from the day before."

"Crap," Kensi swore. "They're never going to let us forget this."

"Us?" His voice rose in both pitch and volume. "It was your idea!"

"And you're my partner, so it's yours too," Kensi retorted, running a hand through her hair. "What are we going to do?" She bemoaned.

"How come that logic doesn't work when I have an idea?" Deeks asked, ignoring her last question.

"Because you're ideas are stupid," She shot him down with a withering look. "Focus Deeks. We have to think of something."

"Why don't we just cook something?" He asked the obvious question.

"You burn TV dinners and I burn water," Kensi deadpanned. "But I don't see that we have any other choice. Oh we are so screwed," She groaned again, face palming.

"Kamikaze cooks," He nodded thoughtfully. "I like it."

A/N: This was supposed to be a part of my one-shot series, On the Run, but the idea kinda evolved into this. I'm supposed to be writing my Neric fic but Densi is just too much fun sometimes. This is just a fluff piece, nothing serious but fun. Tell me what you think. Pretty Please!


	2. I Told You So

**A/N: Thank you for all the amazing reviews/favourites/alerts etc. I can't believe I got so many!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS:LA or it's characters. If I did, Kensi would use Deeks' head as a battering ram more often. That was funny! **

**Chapter Two: I Told You So**

"Slow down there Speedy Gonzalez," Deeks said, clutching the door for support as Kensi took a corner too fast.

"Deeks, we have two hours to cook something edible or be mocked for the rest of our lives. We don't have time to drive like Grandma," Kensi told him, pressing down on the gas. She had no intention of letting anyone mock her culinary skills, even if they didn't exist.

"Yeah but, road rules are good," Deeks replied, his voice tight. They swerved around a truck, narrowly missing its taillights. "Road rules are very good, Kensi. They save lives."

"Stop worrying and find me a recipe," She huffed, keeping her eyes on the road.

He looked down at his I-phone, scanning through the recipes on a cooking app. "I can find a lot of recipes."

"But?" She knew one was coming. There was always a but with him.

"They involve ovens. I have this thing about ovens."

"You have a lot of things," Kensi rolled her eyes.

"This one is real though," Deeks objected loudly. "When I was 7, I tried to make my Mom dinner and it didn't go so well."

"What did you do?" Kensi scoffed, "Blow it up?"

He looked at her, blue eyes downcast with shame and guilt.

"Oh my god," She laughed, "You did!"

"I reveal a vulnerable part of myself and you mock me," Deeks glared at her. "I'm really digging this whole partnership thing," He added dryly.

She sobered at his words, knowing he was a little hurt. "I'm sorry Deeks. I'll do the stuff that involves an oven if you want.'

"Really?" His face brightened, like a child after being offered candy.

"Yes really," She nodded. Then a smile snuck through her armour, "I can't believe you blew up an oven."

"I was 7!" He cried indignantly.

"It's actually pretty impressive. I couldn't do it."

"I know," He shrugged. "What can I say? I'm just more talented."

"Well, direct that talent into finding something that will make Sam and Callen weep," Kensi ordered.

"Yes Ma'am," Deeks gave her a mock salute. He fingered through the recipes on the app. "No. No. Maybe… No. No. Yes!"

"What is it?" She craned to see, grabbing for the phone.

He snatched it out of her reach, "Eyes on the road, Missy."

"What is it?" Kensi repeated impatiently, staring pointedly at the road ahead of her.

"Chicken with plum sauce," He informed her gleefully. "Only takes half an hour and we can buy the plum sauce ready made."

She nodded slowly, "We can do that."

"Of course we can do it," Deeks crowed, "We're Deeks and Kensi."

"Kensi and Deeks," Kensi corrected automatically.

"Unfortunately, alphabetical order won't bend to your extraordinarily large ego," He retorted with a smirk.

"I think you're confusing me with you," Kensi shot back.

"No, I can tell the difference between you and me. You're a girl, I'm a guy. That's a pretty big difference. Don't you think so?"

"Shut up and find an entre."

"Someone's being bossy," He smirked at her again, "Is it that time of the month, again?"

Her glare could have melted the polar icecaps, "Unless you want to be the one bleeding, I suggest you never ever say that again."

"Got it," He nodded swiftly. They fell into silence; the only sound was Deeks tapping on his I-phone. "What about roast vegetables?" He suggested after the quiet minute.

"For the entre?" Kensi asked for clarification.

"Yep," He nodded, "Looks easy enough. Cut them up and stick them in the oven."

"Okay, we're all sorted then," She declared. "Now we just have to buy everything."

Deeks frowned, "What about dessert? It's not a meal without dessert."

"Do you have dessert for breakfast?" Kensi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Pancakes and strawberries," He grinned at her expression.

"How are you not fat?"

He shrugged cavalierly, "I spend all my day chasing bad guys. And you haven't answered my question. What are we doing for dessert?"

"_We_," Kensi stressed the word, "aren't doing anything. Nell's bringing it."

"But you told everyone not to bring anything," He told her, confused.

"But they will," She informed him as if it were obvious. "It's what they do. Sam will bring the wine. Callen will bring beer. Eric brings ice cream and Nell will bring the actual desert."

"How do you know this?"

It was her turn to shrug, "We've done this a lot. You just don't pay attention."

"True," He agreed. "You need to turn left here," He pointed to the next turn off.

"I know where I'm going," She replied prissily. She hated backseat drivers.

"There's a supermarket down there."

"No there isn't'."

"Yes there is."

"I can navigate you know," Her eyes narrowed at him.

He spread his hands in the universal gesture of surrender, "If you want to waste precious time being too stubborn to listen to good advice, be my guest."

"Says the man who walks in circles in the desert," Kensi retorted, deliberately missing the turn off.

"Hey, that is different," He objected vehemently. "This is my city; I know it like the back of my hand."

"Obviously not, because that was the wrong way," She took the next right corner, taking it fast just to annoy him.

"You're going the wrong way," He said in a sing-song voice.

"I am not!" She drove down the road, leaning on the steering wheel, trying to spot the supermarket she knew was on that street. Rows of neat little houses bordered the street but there was no supermarket. She did an illegal u-turn and turned back. "Don't say anything," She warned him, gripping the steering wheel tightly. She couldn't believe he was right. She couldn't believe she was wrong.

"I wasn't going to say anything," He smiled innocently at her.

She looked at him, "Yes you were."

"Yes I was," He nodded, smile broadening. "I told you so!"

"Deeks," She groaned.

**A/N: This is more of a filler chapter than anything. It gets better in the next few chapters, I promise. Here's a teaser/spoiler: someone at the dinner party gets very tipsy. Reviews are love!**


	3. I'm Good

**A/N: You guys are seriously amazing! Thank you for all the reviews and alerts and favourites!**

Chapter Three: I'm Good

Kensi snatched Deeks' phone out of his hands, "So what do we need?"

"I don't know," He waved his now empty hands at her. "You tell me."

"8 chicken breasts and Chinese plum sauce and butter," She read of the screen, walking around the trolley stand. They had made it to the supermarket with only two more wrong turns. Not that Deeks was counting.

He yanked a trolley out of its chain and followed his partner, "You don't have butter?"

She whirled on him, "I live on take out. Why would I need butter?"

"Good point," Deeks conceded her argument. They had no time to cook anything on a normal day. The fact that they couldn't probably contributed to the destitute state of Kensi's kitchen. "What else do we need?"

"Everyone likes bread rolls," The tall brunette spied a bundle of fresh rolls. "And they're on sale."

Deeks frowned, mentally recalling the list. "I'm pretty sure bread rolls weren't on the list."

"So," Kensi shrugged, dropping the plastic wrapped pack into the trolley. "They're on sale, it's a bargain."

"But we don't need them," He argued, pushing the trolley away.

"But people like them!"

"What else is on the list?" Deeks changed the topic. Kensi could be as stubborn as a mule and arguing with her would be like striking up a conversation with a brick wall.

"Vegetables," She scanned the list. "Potato, Sweet Potato, Eggplant, Tomato, Zucchini, Carrot."

"Okay," He looked around for the vegetable area. "Why can't they ever put signs where you can read them?"

"They do," She pointed to the one directly above his head. "You just can't read." She followed the direction the arrow was pointing, leaving him in her wake.

"Hello, I went to law school," He retorted indignantly. "All you do is read."

She shook her head at him, "I still don't know how you graduated."

"Neither do my lecturers," He quipped, always playing the clown.

Kensi held up a long green cylinder vegetable, "Is this a zucchini or a cucumber?"

"Why are you asking me?"

"I guess we'll find out," She shrugged and tossed it carelessly into the trolley. "How many carrots do you think we need?"

It was his turn to shrug, "One per person. What does the recipe say?"

"It says 5 but that's for four to six people. And we eat a lot."

"You mean you eat a lot," Deeks corrected, not being able to control his errant tongue.

She ignored his jibe, "Get seven then."

"One," He picked up a carrot, "Two," He drew out the words, purposefully trying to irritate her; "Can you open a bag for me? My hands are full."

She tore the plastic bag of the roll and held it out for him, "Are you trying to torture me?"

"Is it working?" He smirked at her, noting the red flush creeping onto her cheeks. He had her.

"Yes," She hissed at him, leaning into him and keeping her voice low so they didn't cause a scene in the middle of the supermarket. "I don't see why you're being so cavalier about this. This is our reputations – they will _never_let us forget this if we screw it up."

He shrugged, "Meh. They already think I'm an idiot

She rolled her eyes, "No they don't. It's their way of showing affection."

"I'd hate to see what they'd do if they didn't like me," Deeks drawled dryly.

"You'd be fish sticks," Kensi told him simply and moved on to the next shelf.

"Literally?" He asked, standing still. "They wouldn't literally turn someone into fish sticks, would they?"

"They dump you through the floor of the boatshed," She answered over her shoulder as she picked through the box of sweet potatoes. "Do we want orange or purple?"

"Orange," Deeks told her decisively. "Anything naturally purple shouldn't be eaten. It's just wrong."

Kensi shook her head at her partner, "You are so weird sometimes." She picked out some of the vegetables and dropped them in the plastic bag he had waiting for her.

"You know if you're going to insult me, I might leave," Deeks told her in a teasing tone.

Her face fell, "Don't you dare."

He put the bag of carrots in the trolley, "Don't worry Fern, I'm not going to cause a flare up of your abandonment issues."

"I don't have issues," She said in a huff, folding her arms.

"We all have issues. No big deal. Baggage comes with the package," His blue eyes widened as he realised what he said. "That rhyme wasn't intentional."

She rolled her eyes, "Sure it wasn't. Come one, stop distracting me. We have to be home in like ten minutes."

"We have half and hour, stop rounding down," Deeks said, being slightly patronising. "Calm down."

"We have 20 minutes," Kensi checked her watch. "Stop rounding up. And don't tell me to calm down!" Her voice rose and an elderly couple glanced in their direction.

"Ah young love," The older man chuckled. "Do you remember when we were like that Nora?"

His wife gave his hand a squeeze and smiled, "Of course." They walked past, offering the partners a smile. "Give it twenty more years and the arguing won't annoy you so much, honey," The elderly woman told Kensi as they passed.

"Thanks," Kensi said with a frozen smile. She held the smile until the couple was gone, "I can't believe they thought we were a couple."

"It's it that hard to believe that a girl like you could end up with a catch like me?" Deeks grinned cheekily at her.

"Shut up and get the eggplant," Kensi ordered, pointing to the barrel a few feet away.

"I thought they were sweet," Deeks said as he ambled away. "I can't imagine being with someone for twenty years and still liking them."

"Or them still liking you," Kensi shot back, picking out some tomatoes.

"Ha ha," He glared at her over his shoulder. "You know, I don't think Hetty is going to let us split up anytime in the future. We're too good a team."

She frowned, not understanding. "Is this going somewhere Deeks?"

"Yeah," He nodded, walking back toward her with two eggplants. "You're going to be the partner I have for the rest of my life."

"Which will be extremely short if we don't start cooking," Kensi said, trying not to think about what her partner had said. They were more comfortable with teasing than being mushy.

"One day you're gonna have to stop and smell the roses Miss Blye," Deeks said, looping an arm around her shoulder.

She pushed him off and rolled the trolley towards him, "Come on, we have to go the meat section." She led the way, pausing when she realised he wasn't following. "Deeks!"

"Coming. I'm coming," He hurried after her, tossing a tub of butter into the trolley as he moved. "I was just getting the butter. Don't want to burn everything, do we?"

"Butter stops things from burning?" She frowned, asking the question honestly.

"Wow," He blinked, "And I thought I was bad."

"Hey, at least I can do useful things," She retorted harshly and stormed away.

"I am useful!" He called after her. "I am an extremely useful person."

"Whatever," She rolled her eyes and leant on the butcher's counter, "Hi," She smiled brightly at the butcher, "Can I get 8 chicken breasts please?"

"Coming right up," The dark haired man nodded and bent through his window to get her order. "Having a party are we?"

"You betcha," Deeks' voice boomed from behind her before she could answer. "It's Fern's first dinner party and she's a little nervous. Any tips for my girl?" His arm slid around her waist. Kensi forced a smile through clenched teeth.

The butcher nodded sagely, "When in doubt, always stock up on the alcohol. That way, even if the food sucks, people are too happy to care." He handed her the wrapped bundle of chicken.

"That's really good advice," Kensi said, slightly surprised. "I didn't think of that. Thank you."

"So I guess we're going to go to the bottle shop before we go home?" Deeks guessed.

"Yep," She told him, peeling his hand off her waist. "And don't get any ideas."

"Ideas? Me?"

"I have your credit card and I'm not afraid to use it," She waved his card at him.

He patted his pockets, searching for his wallet. "How did you?"

"I'm good," She smirked at him.

"That you are."

**A/N: Reviews are love people!**


	4. So Dead

A/N: I seriously love all of you. You're so wonderfully kind in your reviews! Hugs to you all. Sorry it took so long to update. Tumblr is awfully distracting at times.

Chapter Four: So Dead

Kensi slammed the drawer shut with a frustrated huff, "Why can't I ever find anything?"

"Maybe if you didn't have so much-" Deeks paused, seeing her murderous expression. There should be a rule that said, when dealing with hoarders, don't insult their collections. For Deeks' safety, at least. "Useful items that are essential to life," He concluded verbosely, glancing sideways at the myriad of objects that dotted the various surfaces in the crammed kitchen. Magazines piled up next to a toaster that looked like it had come out of the box yesterday instead of three years ago while discarded shopping bags covered the counter neither of them were working at. Their supplies were evenly distributed between them as they worked on opposite sides of the island counter in the small kitchen adjoining Kensi's living room.

"Oh that does it," The female agent grumbled to herself and stormed out of the kitchen.

Deeks watched her go, shaking his head at her. She really needed to relax. Kensi Blye was easily the tightest wound person he'd ever met and the laid-back detective had butted heads with a few. It was what made them such good partners – they were like yin and yang. But that didn't mean they didn't get on each others nerves. He sighed and went back to chopping up the microwave softened potato. Mash potato was the one thing he could make and he was determined to prove he could do something.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kensi emerge from the hall, brandishing something that gleamed silver in the light. Deeks held up his hands, survival instincts automatically kicking in as he recognised the object. "Hey, Kens, I didn't mean anything… I was just kidding."

"What?" Her expression was a mixture of confusion and irritation that she could patent as 'Deeks induced'. She followed his gaze to the K-bar knife she was holding, realising what he was referring to. "It's for cutting up the vegetables."

"Seriously?" Deeks deadpanned incredulously. "You're going to use a knife that people use to kill other people with to cut up vegetables? Because that's so normal."

"Relax," She rolled her eyes at what she considered his overreaction. "I haven't used it on anyone. Yet."

He opened his mouth to say something but closed it after a second glance at the large knife in her hand. "Ok."

"Ok," She echoed and started dicing up the sweet potato and carrot into perfect squares. If she was going to do this, she was going to do it well and the others would have to eat their words as well as her food.

"Do you have any salt?" Deeks asked after a few minutes of rare silence. He opened and closed cupboards as he searched the kitchen.

"Why are you looking under the sink?" Kensi frowned at him

"Well I know how you're mind works- you put things in the weirdest places-"

"Do not," She objected with a huff.

"So," He continued, ignoring her interjection. "If I look in the most random places, I'll find what I want even though it really shouldn't be there."

"That is the stupidest thing I've ever head," She shook her head, wondering how he had managed to survive so long. "The salt's in the fridge," She added, answering his original question. She couldn't pick a fight with him now. She needed him.

Deeks stopped and looked up at her from his crouched position, "Why is it in the fridge?"

"Keeps it fresh," She shrugged as if it were obvious. "I saw it on TV."

"Wow," He stood up, wide eyed with shock. "And I thought I was bad."

"What?"

"Salt preserves things. It's known as a preserver. It's what they used to keep things fresh. You don't need to keep it in the fridge."

"I saw it on a home show," She argued with him as he ambled over to her fridge to help himself.

"Well whoever said that had their head stuck in the oven a bit too long I think."

"Whatever," She drawled, "Are you going to mash that potato or not?"

"Don't get your panties in a twist," He told him, being slightly patronising. He closed the fridge with his foot and waggled the salt at her accusingly, "Don't think I didn't see what you did there. I know a subject change when I see one."

"And I know avoidance," Kensi countered, smirking at him. "You didn't answer my question."

"To answer that question, I need to ask another one but I'm afraid to know the answer."

She turned to face him, dropping the knife with a clatter. "What is it?"

"Where do you keep your blender?"

"My blender?" Kensi repeated. "What's the correlation between a blender and mash potato?"

Deeks gave her a pitying look, "Blenders can do so much more that make a smoothie."

"You're gonna mash potato with a blender?"

"Yep," He nodded.

"Okay," She said disbelivingly. "I think it's behind the toaster."

He pulled the toaster away from the wall and found the blender. "Great."

"Why were you afraid to know the answer to your question?" She asked curiously. "It's not like asking where the blender is could start World War Three."

"Yeah but, if you put the salt in the fridge, I was kinda worried you'd put your blender on the moon," He grinned at her, relishing in the banter.

"You are such a child," She turned her back on him, taking the eggplant and dicing it into the small perfect cubes as the other vegetables she'd diced. She put extra force on the chop, letting the sound of the blade hitting the wood board beneath echo around the kitchen menancingly.

"You right there Kens?" Deeks asked in a false pleasant tone. "Or just murdering someone?"

"I'm fine. Just finishing up the roast vegetables," She answered in the same tone. "You?"

"About to create a masterpiece," He stepped back and plugged in the blender. "Watch this," He flicked the switch and the blender's blades swirled into motion, cutting the already cut potato into smaller pieces. "Am I smart or what? I just cut out five minutes of cutting. Get it, I cut out…" He trailed off when he saw her flat expression. "You're not laughing."

"You're not very funny," She replied with a shrug and when back to her vegetables.

"I am too," He whined, pouting slightly. "You just don't appreiciate my talents."

"What-" Kensi's voice was drowned out by the exploding sound of the blender's lid coming off and mashed potato flying into the air. "Deeks!" Kensi shrieked, flinging her arms up to protect her face.

"Oh God," The blonde blindly fumbled for the off switch, mashed potato stuck in his eyes. His fingers flickered the switch and he sighed audibly with relief. "It's all good," He declared, wiping the smushed vegetable out of his eyes.

"It's all good?" Kensi repeated, her voice dangerously low. "Look what you did!"

Deeks turned slowly to see his partner's face and hair smeered with potato, just as the rest of the wall around her was decorated with it. "Kensi…"

"Don't you Kensi me," She picked up the knife and waggled it in his face. "When this is over, you are so dead."

"I'll clean it up," He tried to calm her down. "It's just potato. It'll wash out. It's probably good for your skin. It's more natural than all that junk you put on."

"Deeks, I swear to God," Then tip of the K-bar danced dangerously close to the tip of his nose. The sound of the doorbell made them both jump. Kensi forgot about being angry with Deeks as she glanced, panicked, at the clock. "They're early."

A/N: Dun. Dun. Dun. Cliffhangers seem to be becoming my new thing. Even though I'm the person that hates cliffhangers in stories where I don't know what's going to happen. So anyway, I recommend not trying to make mashed potato with a blender. It does not end well.

Thanks for reading. Reviews are always nice to see. Come on, give me a graduation present


	5. I'm Gonna Need It

A/N: Thank you for all your reviews/alerts and favourites. I can't believe this thing is so popular. I love you all!

Chapter Five

Eric rapped on the door again, "Come out come out. We know you're in there."

"Eric," Nell chided, shifting her grip on the large Tupperware container she held. "Give them a minute."

"I'm hungry," He frowned, turning his head to face her. "Someone stole my cookies." His blue eyes looked at her accusingly.

She shook her head, "Don't look at me like that; it wasn't me. And you probably should eat something healthier for lunch."

"They covered three food groups – they had nuts, cream and oats. They were healthy!" He objected before turning back to knock on the door again. "Come on, you can't leave us out starving in the cold." He kept knocking, resting his head against the door.

Nell glanced pointedly to the hot sunlight beaming down on them, "its LA – cold isn't really a factor."

"So? It's not polite to leave guests outside."

The door opened suddenly and Eric stumbled at the loss of resistance. "It's not polite to nag either," Deeks told him, smirking as the tech regained his footing. "That's what you call karma dude."

"Haha," Eric's eyes narrowed at the detective. "So has Kensi managed to burn anything yet?"

"Nope," Deeks grinned, popping the 'p' sound as he leant against the doorframe. He was being honest, which kinda surprised him. "She's actually better than me. But don't tell her that," He added quickly, fearing what his partner's ego would make of that statement. She'd never let him forget it. "Is that cake?" He changed the subject overtly, looking to Nell.

"Close," She answered. "Chocolate pudding."

"Kensi's favourite," Deeks nodded, internally applauding her choice. Somehow he could picture his partner eating all of it if anything else went wrong. And knowing their luck, it would.

She shrugged nonchalantly, "Everyone likes chocolate."

"So is there a reason we're still out here?" Eric craned to see past Deeks but could only see the empty hallway. "Where's Kensi?"

"Here," The tall brunette ambled up behind Deeks, tying up her wet brown hair into a messy ponytail. "I thought you said you were going to get them and go to the dining room," She eyed her partner.

"They don't know the password," He smirked, coming up with a reason on the spot.

"Password?" Eric echoed. "What are we in? Grade school?"

"Some of us are, mentally at least," Kensi looked pointedly at her partner. She was playing angry; she knew what he had down. He'd given her enough time to clean up without letting their arriving guests how close they were to be attacked by potato grenades. "Anyway, come in," She waved them through, being the gracious hostess.

Deeks plucked the Tupperware container out of Nell's hands as she passed, "I'll take that out of your hands."

"It only needs to go in the oven for twenty minutes to heat up," She instructed him. "It's already cooked."

"Okay," He nodded, committing the number to memory. He didn't have the analyst or tech's skill with numerical data. Sometimes he had trouble remembering the date. But that was usually after a good night. "I'll just stick it in the kitchen." He strode off, listening to Kensi make small talk. Walking into the kitchen, he dumped the container on the counter and paused, seeing something that was not quite right. Deeks looked around, double checking everything. There was still potato decorating the wall and half the bench top. Their groceries looked like a rabid squirrel had attacked them. By the amount of knives on the counter anyone sane would think they were serial killers. But everything was exactly how he left it. Then he spotted it. "Oh crap."

NCIS:LA#NCIS:LA#NCIS:LA

Kensi sat down at the set table, gesturing for the others to do the same. "So any big plans this weekend?"

"Sleep," Nell answered simply.

"Sleeping's a good idea," Eric nodded in agreement. "A buddy of mine is having a Harry Potter marathon so I might join him and live blog it."

"Cool," Nell smiled at him while Kensi blinked in confusion.

"What?"

Eric tried to hide his sigh, "I'm going to watch the Harry Potter movies and talk to my friend online while I do it. It's just like being in the movie theatre with him," The tech shrugged.

"Except you're not in the same place," Kensi said slowly, pointing out the fact and working it out for herself.

"Meh," He shrugged again. "We're not even in the same country."

"How did you meet then?"

"See there's this thing called the internet-"His sardonic response was cut short.

"Kensi!" Deeks' shout from the kitchen was surprisingly high pitched and panicked.

"I'd better go sort him out," The agent got up in a hurry. As she left she heard Eric whisper something to Nell.

"Five bucks he's set his hair on fire."

Nell kicked him under the table but couldn't help but giggle. "Don't be mean."

"There's only one way this is going to end," Eric shook his head. "And it ain't good."

Kensi closed the door behind her, shutting out the rest of the conversation. "What?" She hissed at her partner. "You're making them think this is going to be a disaster."

He turned to face her, expression impassive. "What time did you put the chicken in?"

"An hour or so ago, why?" Her voice lowered as she realised something had gone wrong.

"I think the 'or so' bit turned our plucky chicken into charky chicken," He inclined his head, nodding to the oven where the tray of plum chicken wasn't a lovely shade of pink as the packet promised. It was black and surrounded by smoke.

"Oh no no no no no," Kensi cried, shoving mitts on her hands and opening the oven to get out the chicken. A barrage of smoke poured out. "Turn off the smoke alarm!" She shouted as a whisper. "I don't want them to find out."

"I think they're gonna find out when we serve charcoal instead of chicken," Deeks hoisted himself up onto the counter and stretched to reach the smoke alarm. As he pressed the button, his foot slipped on a piece of potato and he fell. "Kensi!" His arms flailed in an almost comical manner as he tried to regain his balance. He fell in what seemed like slow motion, colliding with Kensi in the process. Kensi hit the floor with a groan. Her back was going to be sore the next day. Deeks landed on top of her, taking her breath away. Literally. He grinned slowly, realising he was still in one piece. "I do like being on top," He quipped.

"Not much chance of that," She flipped over so she was lying on him. "Much better."

The door opened with a squeak, "Are you guys o-"Nell stopped speaking when she spotted them lying on the floor. "Um," Her eyes widened. "Never mind," She backed out of the room quickly.

"This night just keeps getting better and better," Kensi groaned, pulling herself up.

NCIS:LA#NCIS:LA#NCIS:LA

Nell closed the door behind her and sat back down.

"You alright?" Eric glanced at her. She was blushing a little.

"I seem to have this talent to walk in on people at the most inopportune moments," She said, staring into space.

"Really?" He couldn't have sounded more interested if he tried.

The door opened again, "Sorry about that. Deeks thought the vegetables should go on now but we'll put them on when Sam and Callen get here," Kensi blurted, reclaiming her seat. "Deeks, you got any hot plans for the weekend?" She smiled tightly at him, turning to face him as he sat next to her.

"Maybe hit some clubs, find some-"

"Why do you have potato in your hair?" Eric's question cut Deeks off.

"Um," Kensi didn't know what to say.

"Haven't you heard it's the new in thing for hair treatments?" Deeks asked as if it were obvious. "It's this whole au natural thing that's big at the moment. Everyone's doing it."

Nell shook her head, "Never heard of it. But," She continued, seeing Kensi's expression. "Actually I think I have. Paris Hilton was doing it or something."

"Yeah, totally," Kensi nodded, smiling at her friend, grateful Nell covered for her. She got up, "Anyone want wine?" I'm gonna need it, She added silently.

A/N: I feel like I should apologise for not updating for a while. I went away and started writing an original fiction that distracted me. I will finish this though, even if writers block kills me. Thank you again for all the reviews; they motivate me to write more.


	6. Told You So

A/N: Sorry this update took so long. I've been throwing a few dinner parties of my own – the pleasures of the year of the 18th birthdays. But luckily I'm the one that can actually cook. Thank you so much for all the reviews! You guys are seriously awesome!

Chapter Six

Kensi poured the glass of rather expensive wine and took a deep breath. Damn her ego. She would be paying for volunteering for this for at least the next few months but she wasn't going to back down. Retreating wasn't in her vocabulary – something she'd inherited from her father. She took a sip, savouring the rich red wine, and closed her eyes. Just because she drank beer like the guys didn't mean she didn't know how to drink the more 'girly' drinks. The ring of the doorbell interrupted her thoughts and sent her back into panic mode. "That will be Sam," She announced as if no one else could tell.

"I'll get it," Deeks volunteered, leaping out of his seat with more grace that the tall man should have. He hurried down the hall and opened the door with a flourish, "Greetings gallant sir."

Sam's eyes widened as he looked at the detective. "I was going to give you this but I think you've already had enough."

"Never. There is no such thing as too much," Deeks took the proffered bottle of white wine. "Come in. Dinner will be ready soon," He lied, wishing hopefully.

"I think Deeks is drunk," Sam declared as he followed him into the dining room.

Kensi narrowed her eyes at her partner as though she was accessing him, "No, that's just normal." She skulled the rest of her wine. "Anyway, I've got to finish off the vegetables. You guys just make yourselves at home." Deeks followed her into the kitchen

"I think some of us already have," Nell poked Eric in the shoulder and he jumped, removing his feet of the chair next to him. "Manners," She muttered.

"You sound like my mother."

"Obviously she's a smart woman," Nell countered with a triumphant smirk.

"So," Sam drew out the word as he sat down opposite the techies. "How long has it smelted like charcoal?" He kept his voice low so the two intrepid cooks couldn't hear him.

"Since we got here," Eric shrugged. "I was expecting it really."

"Don't mention it," Nell begged. "Kensi's really trying."

"I know," Sam nodded, not wanting to make his teammate suffer that much. "Wine?" He picked up the bottle Deeks had abandoned.

Eric pushed two glasses towards the agent. "Keep it coming."

NCIS:LA#NCIS:LA#NCIS:LA

Kensi's finger trailed along the small print on the piece of paper she'd printed off the internet an hour ago. "Coarsely chop vegetables into pieces. Check. Drizzle with olive oil. Okay, have you got the olive oil?"

"Yes mum," Deeks rolled his eyes and held up the container.

"Give it here then," She took it out of his hands and poured a generous amount on top of the vegetables.

"Kens, they said drizzle, not drown."

Her eyes narrowed at him and she looked at him like he was an idiot. He wondered if she had patented that look just for him. "You can't drown something that's not alive."

"Fine then, drenched," Deeks corrected himself, enunciating the word.

"Gives it more flavour. And stops it from burning."

"Really?"

"I would assume so," She shrugged. "Just put it in the oven already. I don't want them to feel like we've abandoned them.

"Running away is sounding like a good option now though," The detective said honestly even though he knew his partner wouldn't go for it. He still had to say it.

"We're gonna make it through this dinner."

"Yeah, bet that's what the chef on the Titanic said," He drawled as he opened the oven and put the baking dish in.

"Shut up," Kensi hissed at him, slapping him in the arm.

"First, Ow. Second. Shall we see how our guests are faring?" Deeks rubbed his arm as he walked back to the dining room.

"Big baby, it wasn't even that hard," She rolled her eyes.

"Kensi hit me," He announced as he opened the door, pouting like a put-out child.

"I'm sure she had a good reason," Sam nodded sagely, trying to hide a smirk.

"I did," She agreed. "So what were you guys talking about when we came in?"

"Our favourite sports as children," Sam lied smoothly, proudly noting that surprise only momentarily lit up Eric and Nell's face. They were getting better.

"Really?" Deeks snorted, sitting down and opening a beer. "You played sports?" He looked at Eric with surprise.

"I surf, don't I?" The blonde man replied indignantly, not liking the assumption that he couldn't play sports. Even if it was technically true.

"True," Deeks nodded. "Colour me shocked."

"I played football and was on the swim team," Sam announced to no one's surprise.

"Colour me not shocked."

"What position?" Eric inquired, taking the edge of Deeks' sardonic response.

"Wide receiver," Sam smiled a little at the memory.

"I was a cheerleader," Kensi said, smirking at Deeks' slack jaw.

"Please tell me you still have the uniform."

"Do you want me to hit you again?"

Nell giggled, "I think he does."

Kensi looked between the petite girl and the empty bottle of wine, "I think someone's tipsy."

"Yep," Eric nodded, holding up his empty glass. "Two people."

Sam shrugged when Kensi looked at him, "We've got the weekend off. And what harm could they possibly do."

"Hey," Eric frowned. "I can hack the pentagon in hours and will Nell I can do it in half the time. We're not harmless."

"Considering Kensi's computer is so old it's made of stone, that doesn't really matter," Deeks shook his head at the tech, who deflated visibly.

"Can't you be nice for one night?" He implored, a tint of hopefulness in his voice.

"Nope," Kensi answered for her partner.

"I am nice!" Deeks objected.

"Yeah like sour worms," Sam rolled his eyes.

"What?" Deeks rounded on the agent, his expression picture perfect confused.

"You're an acquired taste. But you grow on people. Like ringworm."

"You're all mean," He took a swing of his beer then sniffed the air. "Wow, someone's having a barbeque tonight."

Kensi went pale, smelling the smoke. "Crap." She jumped out of her seat and ran into the kitchen.

"Relax!" Deeks yelled after her. "She's panicking a bit," He explained quietly to the others. In a louder voice he said, "If it was ours, then the smoke alarm would have gone off."

"Except we turned it off," Kensi's terse reply came from the kitchen as the smell of smoke increased in intensity. Wafts of grey smoke floated into the dining room.

Eric leaned back in his chair. "Is this the time to say I told you so?


	7. Practically Perfect

A/N: Thank you for all the reviews- they really make my day, even if I don't find the time to reply.

Chapter Seven

Kensi opened the oven, using the oversized mitts and cursed, "Why can't anything go right?"

"Because you used up all your luck getting me for a partner," Deeks answered, walking over to her. "Oh wow," He crinkled his nose. "That's even worse than the chicken."

"Really Deeks?" She said sarcastically, waving the baking dish of perfectly formed charcoal cubes that had formerly been vegetables. "I couldn't tell."

"Hey," Deeks put his hands up, "Calm down Kens. It's all gonna be ok."

"They're going to laugh at us," She hissed, anger making her voice go low.

He shrugged, trying to be positive. "They always laugh at us."

"At you, not me," She corrected with a small huff and put the dish on the coutner. "Oh god, what are we going to do?"

"We," He emphasised the word, "Are going to remember that this isn't the end of the world and that just last week we stopped this entire city from becoming the next Hiroshima. One failed dinner isn't going to change that."

"Except for the fact that it looks like we used plutonium to cook."

"Pretty sure if we did that, then a – we'd be dead from radiation and b- that chicken would be a little more deformed."

Kensi leant over and poked the blackened chicken resting on the counter. Flakes of charcoaled skin broke off at her touch. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Clucky there would have two heads at least."

She chuckled, knowing he was trying to make her smile. "Thanks."

"Anytime fern," He shrugged again and threaded his thumbs through the belt loops of his jeans. "So what do we do now?"

"I-"

"Are we going to eat anytime soon?" Eric yelled, cutting her off.

Kensi opened the door and stuck her head into the dining room. "Shouldn't we wiat for Callen to get here?"

"No," Sam replied evenly, swirling around the dark red wine in his glass. "He's doing paperwork; he'll be lucky if he finishes before Christmas."

"It's January," Eric looked at Sam, confused. "How much paperwork does he have?"

"A lot," Sam answered simply, remembering the piles of paper he'd left his partner with.

Nell sipped at her nearly empty glass of wine, "Considering he hasn't filed a completed report in months, a lot is an understatement."

"Okay, well then we'll serve without him," Deeks decided and pulled Kensi by the wrist into the kitchen.

"Thank god," Eric groaned. "Even Nell was looking tasty I was so hungry." Nell looked at Eric strangely then shifted her chair away from him. "Nell!" He exclaimed. "It was a metaphor."

"Still creepy," Sam told him, shaking his head despairingly.

"I'm not a cannibal," The tech huffed, frowning and folding his arms as he leant back in his chair, rocking on its two legs.

Nell giggled at him. "You're gonna-"

He lost his balance and landed on the floor with the chair on top of him. "Ow."

"Fall," She finished, laughing for real now. "Oh Eric."

"Well done," Sam said with a slight chuckle.

"Shut up," He got up slowly, his cheeks a flaming red colour. "Shut up. And don't look at me like that."

"Why are we looking at you?" Kensi glanced at him as she opened the door for Deeks as he carried the baking dish to the dinner table.

Nell sat up straight and craned to look inside, "That looks… lovely." Her green eyes watered at the amount of vinegar they'd poured on top of the blackened vegetables. There was so much vinegar that the vegetables almost floated on top.

"yeah," Deeks nodded almost proudly. "It's the French tradition- la noyade de la mort de legumes."

"Well now I know why French women are thin," Eric looked dubiously at the dish.

"The drowning death of vegetables?" Nell translated, frowning at Deeks. "Really?"

"No, he just made that up," Sam explained, again shaking his head despairingly. "Come on, let's try it."

Kensi smiled at him, slightly surprised that he suggested it. "Thanks Sam."

The burly man shrugged as he used the serving spoons she'd laid out. "Food is food. And I've had army rations before. Can't be worse than that."

"How are army rations worse than marine rations?" Deeks quiered, taking the spoon after Sam had finished.

"They're army," Kensi and Sam answered in union.

"Wow," Eric glanced between them. "That was totally a borg moment."

"A what moment?" Sam asked, not understanding.

Eric looked to Nell, aghast. "How can he not know who the borg are?"

She shrugged, "He didn't know who Sauron was either."

"We, my friend, need to work on your pop culture exposure," Eric clapped Sam on the shoulder.

Sam removed his hand and gave it back to him. "I've been exposed enough, thanks."

Deeks waited until everyone had been served, "Okay so on three we eat. Everyone should try this together, make it an experience. One, two, three." On three five faces immediately contorted into various expressions of disgust. "Oh my god," Deeks spat out his mouthful. "So much vinegar."

"I told you that was a bad idea," Kensi hissed at him.

"I thought it would have disguised the charcoal taste," He replied, upset that his idea didn't work.

"You do realise, we would have been able to see that the food is black, right?" Nell asked as she put down her knife and fork, signalling that she wasn't going to eat anymore. "And black means burnt."

"Not necessarily," Deeks argued. "All of those genetically modified stuff are all different colours. Carrots are purple now for crying out loud."

"What idiot scientist would make black vegetables?" Eric asked. "They wouldn't sell at all."

"Well, forgive me for having an imagination," Deeks retorted harshly. He'd never been able to take criticism from friends well, especially when he was stressed. "At least I tried to do something."

Eric frowned, hearing the accusing tone imply something. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"We tried to cook but you haven't even tried."

Sam chuckled, "Oh he's tried."

"He definitely tried," Kensi agreed, nodding with a small smile on her face.

"I put gave Nate food poisoning and he almost ended up in hospital," Eric said with too much pride.

"That was you?" Nell asked, wide eyed. "And why are you so happy about it?"

"It got Nate out of a conference he didn't want to go to," He shrugged. "Nate was happy about it too. After a day or so."

"I work with crazy people," Deeks shook his head.

Kensi looked at her partner, "We're crazy?" She gestured to her and the others. "Then what does that make you?"

"Practically perfect in every way," He retorted as the front door opened and slammed shut.

"So," Callen drawled, tossing his jacket on a spare chair as he walked in. "Has the CDC been called yet?"


	8. I Hate You

_Chapter 8_

"_So," Callen drawled, tossing his jacket on a spare chair as he walked in. "Has the CDC been called yet?"_

"Not yet," Sam quipped as Kensi sent Callen a glare that could've melted Alaska.

"You know you could have some faith in me, you know," She hissed at him before turning to glower at the rest of the team. "I'm trying to be nice here."

"We know that," Nell said quickly. Even though she was rather tipsy, she could still see that Kensi was on the verge of getting very angry. "And you've tried really well."

"Key word is try," Eric added. She kicked him under the table. "What?" He frowned at the redhead, "Would you rather I lie and say it's fantastic?"

"No," Deeks drawled. "But you could more polite."

"What about that chicken thing you said you'd cooked?" Sam asked, trying to be more supportive. "Chicken's easy to cook."

"Ah," Deeks stammered and looked to Kensi, who rolled her eyes with a huff and went back to the kitchen, reemerging with the blackened chicken.

"Except it's not easy to cook if you're completely crap at cooking," She looked down at the charcoal covered meat, dismayed.

"Did you cook that using dynamite?" Eric asked.

"Yes," Kensi said sarcastically. "And a grenade."

"Don't be stupid Kens," Callen said seriously, "If you used a grenade, there wouldn't be any chicken left."

"And how do you know that?" Deeks looked to the seasoned agent, a mixture of curiousity and disbelief on his face.

"Russia, '92." Callen explained with a nonchalant shrug. "It was the only way to start a fire."

"Have you heard of rubbing two sticks together?"

"Have you ever tried that?" Sam deadpanned, looking at the detective.

"No, I live in civilisation, I pay my electricity bills," He retorted, leaning back in his chair.

"Sometimes," Kensi muttered, remembering the time she'd leant him money.

"They were exceptional circumstances," He waved a finger in her direction. "And-"

"I'm still hungry," Eric spoke up, cutting of what was certain to be another Deeks' rant.

"I'm Sam, nice to meet you," Sam said, holding out his hand.

Eric glowered at the proffered hand, "That's not funny."

"Is kinda," Callen shrugged, always backing up his partner.

"You're acting like children," Nell pointed out, gesturing widely with her wine glass.

"Why don't we just order pizza then?" Deeks suggested, trying to be helpful. In the corner of his eye, he could see Kensi's hand curling itno a fist and knew her legendary temper was getting close to boiling point.

"Had it last night," Callen shook his head. "Chinese?"

Kensi shot down that idea, "Only if you like waiting an hour for cold food. There's no good places near here."

"Fish and chips at the Pier?" Eric ventueered.

Callen glanced at the tech, giving the idea some thought. "You're not driving," He said, seeing the empty bottle of wine between him and Nell.

"I only had one. I'll drive," Kensi stood and grabbed her keys.

"Maybe I should have drunk more," Deeks grumbled loudly.

"So that's a yes to fish and chips?" Sam asked for clarification.

"Apparently," Callen nodded. "I'll drive you and Nell."

"That means we're got Eric," Deeks announced unesasarily.

"Don't say it like that," The tech told him as he got up. "Or I'll reprogram your GPS to go to the opposite location you tell it to."

"Does that already," Deeks shrugged then paused. "You can do that?"

"Duh," The smug tone made Deeks worry even more.

NCIS:LA#NCIS:LA#NCIS:LA

Callen dug into his paper cup with relish, "This is the best meal I've had all week." They all sat along the edge of the pier, feet dangling in the water.

Sam eyed the half melted ice cream dripping off the plastic spoon, "You need to eat better."

"Ice cream is good," Deeks argued from his place on Sam's other side, licking his spoon clean. "And it's got milk in it."

"Doesn't make it healthy," Kensi shook her head at him, creating a whirlpool with her spoon in her gelato cup.

"Cheer up Kens," Eric bumped shoulders with her. "It could have gone worse."

"Not really," She replied darkly.

"You could have blown up the kitchen," Nell said cheerfully. "My brother did. He used an aerosol can near the stove and set everything on fire."

"See, we didn't blow anything up," Deeks tried to put a positive spin on their disastrous attempt at a dinner party.

"But next time," Callen started but Kensi cut him off.

"Let someone else cook, I know."

"Actually, I was going to say do what Sam does."

"G," Sam hissed furiously at his partner.

"And what does Sam do?" Deeks asked curiously, peering closely at the Navy SEAL.

"Nothing," Sam said quickly.

"Oviously it's not nothing or Callen wouldn't have said anything," Eric retorted, also curious.

"No it's nothing," Callen said with a gleeful smirk.

"You can't do that. You can't say soemthing's something then say it's nothing," Deeks pouted.

"It's not fair," Kensi chimed in.

"Honestly, Sam does nothing."

Nell frowned slightly, cocking her head as she realised, "Sam does nothing."

"Exactly," Callen's smirk grew into a small smile.

"I hate you," Sam shook his head at his partner.

"I don't understand," Deeks looked between Sam, Callen and Nell. "Sam does nothing?"

"He doesn't cook," Callen explained with a knowing shrug. "He orders take out then puts it in dishes so you think it's home cooked."

"Why you!" Kensi fumed. "But… why?"

Sam shrugged, "I do cook sometimes but I get lazy sometimes."

"I'm never talking to you again," Deeks huffed and folded his arms.

"It's that a promise or a threat?" Callen chuckled a little.

"I hate you," Kensi pouted.

"No you don't."

"You're cooking next time," She ordered sternly.

"Better than you," Sam reminded her.

"Still hate you," She folded her arms and looked pointedly out to sea.

A/N: So this ended up way longer than it was supposed to – originally it was supposed to be a chapter in On The Run, but it morphed into this. This will probably be my last story for a while. I start uni tomorrow and have basically 40 hours a week of study plus work so I'm going to be very busy but I hoped you liked this story. Thank you for all the reviews!


End file.
